Ok So Vela has his work permit, great news, Nasri is still on hold but the really great news is the cheating chavs lost! It was so good to watch Cashley’s face at the end, but even better to watch the cheating chav Terry, miss his penalty and instantly hold his shin, as if if was his shins fault, ha, fucking ha! what topped it off was to watch ex gooner Anelka putting the cherry on the cake and see Abramovich put his head in his hands, justice done, job done, well done super Nick.
Good move Cashley! You greedy little shit, you now have the record as the only mobile phone loving twat that has lost two champions league finals, I only wish you had swallowed you tongue after the head butt.
Enough of that Grovers, we still haven’t signed Nasri or Ben Arfa and after watching the most boring game in champions league history, sign them quick, ‘cos Fergie and Grant will be trying hard to if we don’t.
There’s no need to wait, if you want them, sign them, but do it quick!
Not a lot else to talk about but this week, but it should shows which way we go, if we don’t do it soon, the Euros will be on us and then every one will cost a fortune, so all we’ll see is kids, and we have enough of them.
So please, please Arsene, get the fucking cheque book out before it’s too late.
It sickened me to see the Champions league final between 2 teams that play kick and run football, it should have been us, and if you make those signings, it could be.
Have a great day grovers, this could be the day!
New Kit perhaps? Good work Arsenal Youth!
Pedro
Geoff
May 22, 2008 at 08:20
£150,000 a week, and the knob can’t even score from 12 yards………..laugh, i almost bought a fucking round…………..ha ha ha!
May 22, 2008 at 08:20
Fuck me! First up, chamon!
May 22, 2008 at 08:24
What a cunt!
I haven’t even seen it… I couldn’t bare the thought!
What was Geoff talking about regarding Anelka?
May 22, 2008 at 08:28
surely thats the kit that those kids on the cesc fabregas show won? looks good though.
champions league final was great, watched man u and chelsea play horribly for a half each, looking forward to more of that next year guys, keep it up you guys! highlights for me were: ronaldo missing a penalty; ronaldo crying; and watching anelka display very little skill, then missing a penalty… well done to you both!
just the start of chelsea’s exodus imo. watch the fallout unfold today! =D
May 22, 2008 at 08:29
dude – i really love this site – for the simple reason i had precisely the same thought about tongue swallowing – however, i would also apply that desire to that little cheating faggot from cape verde – the rent boy also known as nani.
May 22, 2008 at 08:29
come on wenger lets sign up both hatem ben arfa and samir nasri
double swoop and get a dunne, thuram in the defence… il be happy
richard dunne would be a good signing
May 22, 2008 at 08:30
Poor old Abramovich… embarrassed by is £150k a week captain!
I look forward to the Exodus… Anelka, Drogba, Lampard…
May 22, 2008 at 08:30
Boring game. Well it started out crap but considerign Man U could have been 3 nil up at half time it wasn’t boring by any means.
I was trying to decide who I’d like to see life the cup more and decided that despite blue being my favourite colour (generally my motivation for picking sides in neutral games that don’t concern Arsenal) I’d sooner that half of the big 4 in england still haven’t won the Champions League. But Man U will bang on about this for years and years.
I’m bored of the coverage only a day later so I hope this all blows away soon and we can get back to hearing about important news, like Arsenal’s summer signings!
May 22, 2008 at 08:32
oh, another highlight was drogba getting sent off, silly silly boy. my bro and i both thought makalele would be the one to pull a second yellow, but straight red for you sir knight. cya next season… or will we?
May 22, 2008 at 08:35
What do you all think of the new kit?
I think it is a step backwards. The current kit we sport is far superior!
The new yellow one will be nice, but the red one is very very dull…
May 22, 2008 at 08:35
Now that i’ve recovered from my over indulgence in Cloudy Bay, did anyone see the piece in the Telegraph about transfer values and wages per week of the possible starting lines for last nights laugh fest?
Anyhoo here goes;
Man Ure –
Van Der Sar £3m/£80,000pw
Brown £6m/£55,000pw
Ferdinand £40m/£120,000pw
Vidic £18m/£70,000pw
Evra £12m/£30,000pw
Hargreaves £18m/£80,000pw
Carrick £18m/£80,000pw
Scholes £6m/£90,000pw
Park £6m/£40,000pw
Ronaldo £75m/£125,000pw
Rooney £40m/£115,000pw
Chavski –
Cech £10m/£70,000pw
A Cole (wanker, sorry!) £19m/£100,000pw
Terry (ha ha ha!) £25m/£150,000pw
Carvalho £19m/£80,000pw
Essien £20m/£80,000pw
Ballack £20m/£120,000pw
Makelele £6m/£70,000pw
Lampard (Salad Dodger) £25m/£90,000pw
J Cole £18m/£85,000pw
Malouda £12m/£60,000pw
Drogba £24m/£90,000pw
Now i know the trsansfer values are pure conhecture/opinion, but the salaries are presumably based on proper research. So, Arsene if you’re reading this, this is what you gotta pay to be truly successful, stop trying to do it on the cheap, it’s never gonna happen……….
May 22, 2008 at 08:38
thinking more on it, i think the stripes down the sides should maybe be thinner. same width at the shoulders though, but yeah, the current one is really nice ey. away will be nice though, i agree.
May 22, 2008 at 08:40
like i said before we know what the problem is with arsenal
everyone knows it….
every summer, we have a fear one of our best players leave
does this happen at chelsea, man utd or even liverpool
we got a crap defence and we waste chances to finish teams off
we got crap like eboue who would not even get into the other 3 teams.
unlike man utd and chelsea we aint lethal enough, we score goals but when it matters we dont.
we conceade stupid goals, we take leads but we dont know if we can hold onto them.
May 22, 2008 at 08:43
GunnerShabz – IMHO the reason why Chavski and ManUre don’t go through the same old will he won’t he saga, is coz they’re are paid enough to ward of attention form other clubs, so there’s less chance of their heads being turned by their agents……..Arsene, lose the fucking wage structure and start really competing……..
May 22, 2008 at 08:46
dennis…..
i feel ya pain….. money makes the world go round
players want to make their grands….
fair enough nowadays the money in football is a lot.
we have over achieved in the money we spent and players we have, admit it.
but now since chelsea’s rent boy roman has come into football, its gone to another level. at the moment we cant compete, even with our new stadium we still got the same problems
May 22, 2008 at 08:50
GunnerShabz – Surely we can compete with those pikie Italian teams like Inter etc, i agree on the Chavski front, but those European teams come and wave a cheque book at the likes of Flamini, Hleb et al and all we hear from Arsenal.Com is that we made him/them a fair offer………….fair when? In the 80’s……FFS!!
May 22, 2008 at 08:51
Come on Shabz. It is a new morning, the sun is shining (well , it is here), life is good. Get positive. You could be a Chavs fan, having spent a fortune going to a very wet Moscow. Supporting a team that has spent mega-millions o big-name players and still end up as potless as we are !
We will sign players, maybe not today, maybe no tomorrow, but it will happen.
May 22, 2008 at 08:52
so you want mercenaries dennis?
maybe you should cast your eye at the person who’s name you have seemingly taken -
bergkamp could have moved to barcelona in 98 for significantly more money.
he didn’t because he appreciated our club.
i prefer those people in my team rather than cocksuckers like cole, flamini and the kind of idiot that wants a ten year contract with the option to manage the team at the end of it.
May 22, 2008 at 08:52
dennis
we are an upcoming team with a good repuation, but then when teams like ac milan, barca and real madrid come in
even if they in the uefa cup we still lose out to them, why because maybe they flash the cash or the fact they got history as a prestige club.
look at bayern munich they fucked up but they went out and bought players, they made their intention.
May 22, 2008 at 08:52
And another thing, if the ManUre debt is three/four times higher than ours, where are they getting the money not only to pay £50m for three players last summer, but also pay their squad’s wage bill??
May 22, 2008 at 08:53
I personally don’t believe we have over achieved. We have just been clever with our money. If a club has a manager who coaches well and spends his money wisely, you can’t say we have over achieved.
Saying we have over achieved insinuates we have been lucky…
We have great players, we play great football and we are not far off a great team. If you think we have over achieved, you’d have to tell me the players who are playing beyond their ability.
Cesc? Ade? Hleb? Clichy? Sagna?
All those players are great players in their own right… if anything, they under achieved this year.
Over achievers… Bolton a few years ago… Reading last year… not Arsenal!
May 22, 2008 at 08:57
Hardee String – You are living in a dream world my friend, the reality of any successful team is that they have to pay good money, and employ mercanaries, because that is what the majority of the ranks of the professional footballers are, forget all this badge kissing cobblers. Of course our club is a bit special, but you cannot rely on that to sign and keep players………..
May 22, 2008 at 09:00
You know i’d love my team to be full of players who feel honoured to play for the red and white, but sad as it might seem those days are gone, hence the Nasri situation, do you think if he was offered £80k a week by us he’d still be waiting on other options, now i’m not saying that’s right, or it’s the right attitude, but that’s the market……
May 22, 2008 at 09:02
we shud get dunne as defensive cover first.our centre halfs were pathetic.get dunne and thuram
May 22, 2008 at 09:04
Morning all.
Fell asleep after the 1st half only to wake up to see fergie lifting the trophy. Apparently the hightlight of the game was seeing Drogbreath sent off.
Yesterday was not unusual regards Nasfi,1st it was”he’s expected in london for a medical” then it was”oh, its from a done deal”.
Heres someone iI think for sure we can sign,he did try out with the school boys but apparently he wasnt good enough. PLUS, he’s an arsenal fan!
lol
May 22, 2008 at 09:06
well said Pedro. I am not an AKB, but what we saw last season was some of the best football ever seen. Don’t take my word for it – read the rave reviews we were getting. This is NOT a team of losers. After the AC game, the whole of Europe was calling theis team ‘the future of football’.
Are we a worse team because we ran out of steam ? Does it mean that AW should change tactics and go the way of the Chavs?
Of course not. We are on the edge of greatness, a couple of strategic additions to the squad and we will get the extra 4 points to make us Champions
Oh….. and we need to learn how to ‘bung’ the ref, just like the others
May 22, 2008 at 09:09
T-buzz… I can do all that… easy… haha!
Players are only interested in pound notes these days. The same as most people in business. Would you work at a nice bank with a history for £25k or a new bank for £50k… easy decision right?
I hope people aren’t slipping into the ‘Arsenal are a great club players should come for less’ trap…
Arsenal have no problem fleecing the fans and the fans wouldn’t have a problem being fleeced if they felt the money was going towards competing with wages/transfer fees.
Don’t brag about profits all year then try an pay below market rate for players…
May 22, 2008 at 09:12
DennisDaMenace you’re absolutely spot on. The days of loyalty before money are long gone. Especially with overseas players. Dennis (the greatest ever player) Bergkamp is/was a rare person. Life changes, and with the Abromovitch era, it has become more about money than ever before. GunnerShabz, mate we are not an up and coming team. Arsenal is a massive money earner, top 3 I think. I have no idea what those people at Man U are doing, I mean how do they stay a-float…Either way, to keep our financial dominance we have to spend with dominance.
May 22, 2008 at 09:15
Well said Pedro, that’s what really grates with me, how the club boasts about £3.1m every home game, 2nd/3rd or whatever richest club in the worls and that we don’t need external investment to compete, we’re doing quite nicely thank you……….then not compete against other clubs who are nowhere as financially secure as us. All this while they’re fleecing their own fan base!!
May 22, 2008 at 09:17
The wage structure is just fine.Flamini says he dint go to milan for money but for football reasons…….fuck that cunt…..reality check is that they are playing in the uefa cup while we play in the champions legue.why would anyone trade the champs legue for a uefa cup?????my point is loyalty and not the money is the key.did u see how emotionless anelka was???thats why he lost the pen.he did not have the spirit of the club in him.i would rather have a loyal Ade than a traitor…..Anyone sharing the same sentiments..by the way “nice clearance terry.next time try and put it between the posts”
May 22, 2008 at 09:19
Kenyan gooner. Nice point about Anelka.
May 22, 2008 at 09:22
I know, I think there comes a point where you have to justify your high prices…
Be it a signing, a trophy… It doesn’t really matter, I just think the fan base are getting a bit bored of being perceived as a poor club.
Its especially annoying when you see investment happening everywhere else…
For me Arsene is missing a trick at the moment.
If you sign an established player who has been at a few clubs, he will be less likely to leave after one good season. When you sign an 18 year… blood him for 4 years, he will be bored and more inclined to leave.
We are the stepping stone for the worlds best kids. That is why Ribery made sense… he’d been at about 10 clubs and now he will probably stay at Bayern for 4-5 years…
May 22, 2008 at 09:24
Great point Pedro. When you get the young kids they will want to have as many experiences as possible. You’re right, it’s a given.
May 22, 2008 at 09:25
Kenyan Gooner, you are way off the mark with Ade… He will be off within the next 2 years without a doubt.
Regarding Anelka, have you ever seen him show emotion? If he missed his penalty down to having no love for Chavski… why did Terry miss his?
May 22, 2008 at 09:27
spot on pedro.I think we need to win a treble to prove that we are among the elite.The man u cunts cant just shut up today.
May 22, 2008 at 09:27
Pedro do you remember Anelkas first ever goal when he was just a young lad against Man U? He once played with emotion.
May 22, 2008 at 09:27
Watching the Chav/Scum game last night it struck me that neither side looked that impressive.
Their forwards/midfielders couldn’t string a meaningful set of passes together and the centre backs both made plenty of mistakes(anyone see turtle face high kick Makalele but -as usual – get away with it?).
It went along way to prove they were only 4, or 2, points better than us. We shouldn’t feel overawed playing these w**kers in future – give us a level playing field (i.e. no referee bias) and I don’t see the problem beating these chancers.
May 22, 2008 at 09:28
Big Raddy, you have just summed up our problem though. We play probably the best football in europe (certainly in the top 2 anyway) & the players want recognition for that in the way of money & trophies, they get neither of those at Arsenal now.
We will always be the nearly men if our top performers each season leave & thats whats happening. Wenger might sign a couple of 21 year olds to replace those that leave but they take 2-3 years to settle have a great season & set off for pastures new.
You can already see next season now. It will consist of 2-3 new players trying to settle, us playing great football in patches but missing out in the big games due to that usual excuse ‘lack of maturity’. Then the summer will come & Cesc, Adebayor will leave & there will be rumours about the likes of Sagna, Clichy & maybe one or two others!!
Arsenal need to make a clear statement of intent, not just for the fans but for big football clubs in general. If we go out & buy a significant name, even if the player doesn’t actually work out it sends a message!!
May 22, 2008 at 09:30
I always thought Anelka looked uninterested… Le Sulk!
I just don’t believe you can become an sportsman who earns £80k a week without having passion and drive.
I would love any team I played for… is it the club you love – or winning?
May 22, 2008 at 09:32
In regards with players like the Iceman, it’s both, the club and winning. Anelka, you’re right, it’s just about winning.
May 22, 2008 at 09:33
Anelka is an example to learn from.He doesnt know where his loyalties lie.It was the champions legue final and the cunt was playing like it was a training session.More is that he hit the pen like its a high school game.I think loyalty breeds motivation.like cesc
May 22, 2008 at 09:34
Stonroy – I think you could possibly include Cesc in the DB10 category……..
May 22, 2008 at 09:35
I really really really really really really really hope so Dennis. I really do.
May 22, 2008 at 09:36
I think clichy and sagna will be here for a long time too.
May 22, 2008 at 09:37
Still not sure about Theo though.
May 22, 2008 at 09:37
well lads there you have it… money doesn’t guarantee you success…
May 22, 2008 at 09:40
Stonroy – my only real worry about the Cesc/DB10 comparison is again back to Arsenal’s ambition, how long will this wonderfully talented player wanna carry the team, it’s obvious he loves the club, but how many more seasons of near misses will he take? If Arsenal win something substantial that answeres that question, if Arsenal sign a couple of true world beaters that may also have the same affect as winning something………
May 22, 2008 at 09:43
Stonroy, Iam with you on the Clichy Sagna staying for a longtime. but I think Theo too will, as long as he continue to influence each game,setting up goals,yeah he will.
He’s already a fan favourite and he’s an arsenal fan at heart.
May 22, 2008 at 09:44
Morning all, i know we get fed up with losing big players…
big players dont = flamoany, edu, cygan, and others i cant be bothered to type or try and spell
big players = Henry, Viera, Petit, Overmars, C**t Cole, Bobby P & Freddy, (sorry if i missed anyone)
BUT – what are these ‘BIG’ players doing now….
Apart from the left back twat last night -
Titi is struggling to play at Barca
Bobby is doing ‘OK’ at Villareal
Petit & Overmars have retired
Edu – i think he is still injured
PV – plays for an ageing old corrupt money side
I hear some of us refer to our club as a feeder club, but i disagree, yes at the time it hurts to lose one of our big players, but this is where i bring in the old ‘arsene knows’ – what he knows is when to agree to sell someone
PV would had gone the previous season to RM but failed a medical, so glad we got money for him the following season
Titi – his back and bones and divorce caused him all sorts of problems – did he really pass a barca medical???????
Petit and Overmars, well we got money for them and thier time after us was short lived
So i dont think we are all that bad, the rumours are that Nasri is now in France, that means one of two things – the deal is done and just waiting the official announcement, or it is finished, end of…. i know which i think….. Later
My partner hates footie except our fine club!! But she loves footie scraps, red cards, pens, especially when the winker misses them – so she sat last night with a smile….
Drog has now played his last game, Cole is a C**T, and Terry needs some new heels on his stiletoes……………. Oh how i laughed
Happy day i hope fans
May 22, 2008 at 09:44
Spot on Dennis. The money it would cost to get Villa, would be worth it. It would come Cesc and the ney sayers down and bring some stabaility to the club. I don’t know if we have what it takes to win the league or the CL next year…
May 22, 2008 at 09:45
I loved this:
1. Seeing winging wanker crying.
2. Seeing dogbreath seeing the red.
3. Cashley’s head nearly being chopped off
4. Wanking 150 000 pw steel man? missing a penalty then crying like a wimp
5. Le Sulk missing his penalty, and showing Chavski that he does not give a toss anyway…….hahahahaha
May 22, 2008 at 09:47
there is one thing am glad about.Those wankers never really better than us and that they didnt win the game in 90 min.I also think van persie will be here for a long time…Bt i cant bet my house on gallas staying put esp if he looses the captaincy
May 22, 2008 at 09:48
to sum up, it will be a quiet day today.
Al the hype of Nasri coming yesterday has gone, and it seems it is agent talk. The fact that this guy signed a new contract a few months ago, so he can be sold at a premium stinks.
May 22, 2008 at 09:48
brinso78 – i loved Niks reaction, like, oh dear i missed, never mind…..
he will be gone
May 22, 2008 at 09:49
Also if you want to talk about the great players that have left Arsenal recently, dont forget Sol, I am going abroad, Campbell, Lauren, and, fit as a fiddle, Freddie
May 22, 2008 at 09:52
Stonroy – Agreed fella, a signing of Villa stature does more than improve the overall quality of the squad, it gives a lift to the players, the supporters, sells merchandise, but it could be the difference between winning games that we would’ve maybe drawn before…………..buy someone like him and it attracts other players, maybe Nasri would signed in a heartbeat if he knew he’d be playing with Villa too, you never know……
May 22, 2008 at 09:53
mark c – sorry forgot those two, sol looks good in an average side, bit like when he was at spuds
freddie – well he is slow and f****d
May 22, 2008 at 09:54
has anyone noticed that ronaldo always hits his pens low and to the right……
May 22, 2008 at 09:55
Choy, why doesn’t money gurantee success?? You can’t be relating it to Chelski failing last night because Man Utd have spent mega money also, so whoever was going to win had spent fortunes.
Real Madrid won la liga, Lyon won ligue 1, Inter Milan won the scudetto, Bayern Munich won the Bundesliga, Man Utd won the premier league & the CL. What does that tell you?? It tells me that the clubs that invest heavily in their squads win the best prizes!!
May 22, 2008 at 09:55
Dennis and Pedro you guys have been hitting that nail on the head all morning lads
May 22, 2008 at 09:55
don’t think there is need to sign a big name.remember Batista….?
May 22, 2008 at 09:56
Spot on GMR
May 22, 2008 at 09:56
My hammer is well and truly blunted now………..
May 22, 2008 at 09:57
Anelka is all about the money – if he was about the winning he surely wouldn’t have wasted those years at PSG (2nd stint), Man City and Bolton – as he certainly wan’t winning anything at any of those places.
May 22, 2008 at 09:58
Money doesn’t gaurentee you success… but it gives you a much better chance! That is why we left Highbury!
Well said GMR… Bayern spent a shed load after finishing 5th… come the end of this season they were 10 points clear and Champions!
May 22, 2008 at 09:59
GMR’s point is bang on, but the Chelsea thing also tells you that there are more than 1 club in each country throwing their money around – but only 1 team can win.
May 22, 2008 at 10:01
I think it is quite amusing that Arsenal fans go on about mercenaries at Chelsea and ManU… where do people think our young players come from?
Cesc ditched Barca, Theo ditched Southampton, Clichy binned his club…etc etc… factor in Merida, Vela, Bothelo, Bartley!
In fact… Merida hid in the mountains for 5 months to escape Barca!
May 22, 2008 at 10:04
KJS, thats also true, but without investment you don’t stand a chance. Yes we finished 4 points behind, but 4 points behind wasn’t good enough to win & the same will happen next season & so on.
However if Arsenal can’t compete with Chelski & Man Utd financially then they should be honest, put the ticket price down to that of a mid table team & start trying to win the CC & F A cup.
May 22, 2008 at 10:04
i think quality but unknown players add the element of surprise to the team.for exaple sagna,eduardo, and ‘cesc in 2005′.buying quality players is better than buying names.Good exaple is Ronaldinho.woldnt pay 5Mil for him at the moment
May 22, 2008 at 10:05
In all seriousness guys, I think we just need to be a little bit more patient. There was a lot of people appearing to get bent out of shape yesterday just because Nasri wasn’t confirmed yesterday. Just consider a couple of points:
- The transfer window hasn’t opened yet – I know you can still cut deals before then.
- There have been very few major tarnsfers as of yet.
- The other big European leagues only just finished their season last weekend and in Frnace there is still the cup final to go.
- Wenger said he was looking to do his business within a timeframe that actually extends into next week.
- He knows and has stated that signings are required.
- These things change very quickly !!
May 22, 2008 at 10:05
It has always been about the money. That and whether you are a family man. DB10 got paid a fortune at Arse. He loved his life in England, and his family wanted to stay her. Plus he played for the most succesful club in the country at that time.
I believe that had TH14 not had domestic problems, he would still be at THOF, AND I do not think that being paid £10M for a season is small potatoes.
No-one knows how much we pay our players. It is pure speculation. Though, I have to agree that we wouldn’t compete with AC (&refused to be blackmailed by Flam), and that cost us.
And….. the club is aware of the lack of parity, thus it is offering improved contracts.
May 22, 2008 at 10:07
Morning all. Firstly great to see the Chav’s lose last night. As I live in South West London I would never have heard the end of it if they had won the bloody thing! Poor old Chelsea!!
On the money thing all I would say is that whilst spending big money is no guarantee of success, not spending any big money this summer will be a guarantee of missing out on the big prizes next season and beyond. Even AW, for all his talents, cannot hope to win the major prizes by signing young boys from the outskirts of Europe and Africa. We need to stop kidding ourselves that is was just down to bad luck this season. If we stand still we will be further off the pace next season than we were this season.
The first signing he should make at the moment would be to get Tony Adams back from Portsmouth. AW builds great teams but working with the defence is not his strongest point.
Kenyan Gooner I would have Ronaldinho for £5mil!!!
May 22, 2008 at 10:08
GMR I don’t disagree with you 1 bit about the need for investment – we are definitely on the same page there. But I believe it will happen and am prepared to be a little bit patient about it.
May 22, 2008 at 10:08
poor old evra only £30,000 a week!! thats looks pretty pathetic next to the others!!!
May 22, 2008 at 10:09
Well said KJS.
I’m off out for a bit… so sorry if any comments get jammed… don’t post links if you can avoid it!
Happy blogging.
May 22, 2008 at 10:13
ArsenalTom – You can bet you’re bottom dollar though that come the start of next season he’ll be on an improved deal, probably double what he’s currently on, no will he won’t shinnanigans……..
May 22, 2008 at 10:18
Fuck it…. enough of my positive spin.
You are right, we need to splash the cash.
The reason we became THE Arsenal (the only club with a THE and you can’t buy that !), was that we were “The Bank of England” club, so called because we were by far the biggest spenders in world football.
That reputation has lasted to the present day. So, if we are to maintain our presence at the ‘top table’, we have to show intent. That can only be done by having a true World reknowned player at the club. With TH gone, we have no-one (true Cesc will become one). We have to sign a truly big name…. my preference is Ronaldinho, but I would take Eto’o or Cannavaro, or Robinho etc.
May 22, 2008 at 10:20
We are by far feeder club, we are just more financially aware and concerned for our club than other owners. Success comes at a heavy price for many teams who dont win anything, look at Leeds – one year they are semi-finalists in the Champs League then they are strugglin down in the lower divisions of english football. Do wen want our club to end up like that?? dont think so.. we have to play it safe for a bit untill our stadium is fully funded and we can afford to buy superstars like Villa and not be afraid to fall into further debt if we fail to win anything.
Arsenal FC is the only remaining pure football club around, we buy players who are solely based on footballing abaility and not for namesake. All our players are fully commited to the cause, and whoever isnt and looks at the % of wage increase they can achieve elsewhere can go, loyalty is very rare in many football clubs and we are lucky we still have some of it. U can say Man Utd players are loyal… well that is untrue, players like Brown, Giggs, Scholes, Fletcher are paid enormous amounts of money and that is why the likes of Man U keep their players for longer (tradition and passion for club is a load of crap) .. None of them even supported Man Utd in the 1st place.
All im saying people is we should be proud to be watching such talented players who enjoy playing for the club, and play football for what it is and how it should be playing. Success will come.. and when it does every1 will remember it.. becos we will have done it the Arsenal way.
May 22, 2008 at 10:21
big raddy relax!all the sighns are positive.We just tabled a bid for Nasri around 12mil i suppose?In Wengers world that is like 20mil.Indirectly that means we have the money to spend only that if clubs knew how much they would inflate the prices of players
May 22, 2008 at 10:22
Agree with those sentiments Big Raddy. The whole place needs a lift this summer and only a big signing can do that.
May 22, 2008 at 10:24
Cant find the new kit
May 22, 2008 at 10:25
all the blogs say that the offer for nasri has been accepted guys – now it is down to nasri – we only want him to join us for the right reasons so if he says no – then lets go and get a different quality player from arsenes long list, who WANTS to play for us
Come on Gooners
May 22, 2008 at 10:25
Big Raddy.. no BIG NAMES.. are u crazy???!!
Rosicky, Hleb, Gallas, Lehmann, Gilberto, RvP, Adebayor, Walcott, Cesc, Clichy.. all our players are big players who are admired all over the world. These comments that we arent a top team no more are rediculous.. we lost the title by 4 points and were knocked out Champs League by the Ref.. and suddenly we dont have big players… To you and the supporters that think like this, u consider our players to not be BIG players because we nurtured them and we didnt pay stupid sums of money for them, does that make them a lesser player than any1 else cos we paid less..???
May 22, 2008 at 10:27
its hard to resist the arsenal charm.is’nt it?i dont think he will thinks otherwise
May 22, 2008 at 10:29
What financial people struggle to understnad is the effect of intangibles on an entity.
The feel-good factor of a big name signing will not only attract some new fans(youngsters for example, not glory hunters hopefully) but increase shirt sales and merchandising and improve the morale of the suporters. This need sto be addressed after a season of disappointment and just loooking at short term cash flows is going to kill our long term competativeness.
It’s bad enough it’s so difficult for non season ticket holders to see games – so how on earth do we propose we are going to increase our fan base ? Undecided youngsters will take the easy option and go to the Mank/Chav axis of evil as the former have a media miachine doing all their PRf or them (Sky, The Sun, The Daily Mail, most of the tabloids,ITV etc,.) and the latter have a limitless pot of siberian blood money.
The board of AFC have to remember a football is NOT a business, justl like any other.
The crucial difference is supporters can’t change clubs – barring the glory hunters – you don’t just call it brand loyalty. It’s not the same thing.
May 22, 2008 at 10:29
Good point Big Raddy; we want/need a well known/respected name to sign up.
Nasri? Come on guys; most of us didn’t have a clue who he was until 2-3 weeks ago and now he’s the best thing since sliced bread. He may well be a very good player (I’ve heard nearly as many negative reports as I’ve heard positive) but he’s hardly a household name that will make people stand up and think fuck me THE ARSENAL mean business.
So pleased those cheating chav cunts won fuck all!!
May 22, 2008 at 10:30
spot on Chary
May 22, 2008 at 10:31
Nasri is stupid if he signs for Lyons in a swap deal with Ben Arfa. And even more stupid if he doesn’t come to us..
I agree Rico, players should be banging at AW’s door begging to play for us.
The future is Bright… the future is Arsenal
May 22, 2008 at 10:33
Well said Chary
May 22, 2008 at 10:33
does anyone have updates on rosicky? n does nasri’s comming mean hleb the iceman is going?
May 22, 2008 at 10:35
BR – spot-on, we dont want some numpty for the money, we want a player who will love our club, and i bet there a loads of players who would – which possibly explains why africans come to our home – how many then say they want to leave ………..
None – Lauren was transferred, after being crocked and ousted by…….. Eboue!
May 22, 2008 at 10:36
Like i said yesterday, if anyone doesn’t want to play for Arsenal, fuck them. I can’t believe we pay that badly (that is just the paps stiring things!). I want players that want to play for Arsenal, not mercenarys !
May 22, 2008 at 10:36
well said charybdis
May 22, 2008 at 10:41
true bud…
May 22, 2008 at 10:43
I think in the modern day player’s who genuniely love the club will be very hard to come by. Blokes like us would but the day’s of fans making it from the terraces (seats) to the first team seem to be long gone. Our player’s now don’t love the club they love Wenger and they play for him. Look at the domestic cups debacle. AW is not interested so nor are the players.
You just have to hope that we can sign a few decent players and pay them enough money so that they don’t feck off within a couple of years and we get to see some silverware along the way.
May 22, 2008 at 10:48
Players may not stay for life anymore, but at the same time, whatever Henry was or was not paid and including the fact he left……….. he gave us 8 great years and DOES love the club and did show loyalty for a good chunk of his career……… that to me is enough. I am not asking a 20 year old to come in and sign a 20 year contract with a death sentence written in if he leaves !!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 10:51
Henry did love the club and I will never have a bad word said against him. So did Bergkamp and blokes like Adams, ixon,Winterburn etc did as well. I just don’t think any of our current team do. Maybe I am wrong but that’s how I feel about our current batch.
May 22, 2008 at 10:54
REGARDING THE NEW KIT………………………EHHHH…………….I’m not really happy . Its the same as the Dreamcast one but only with Dreamcast replaced with The Emirates. Tell you what, for the next 6 hours i’m gonna get busy with my Dreamcast one, rubbing off the letters and replacing them with The Emirates and thats me sored.
Not very good to be honest. However it might rekindle that spirit of 98, so if so, bring it on
May 22, 2008 at 11:00
Anyone fancy bringing back the Pizza Shirt for our ‘new’ away kit?/
May 22, 2008 at 11:01
fuck Nasris agent, just sign!
May 22, 2008 at 11:02
james, as soon as we win somthing the league, fa cup or champs league, we’ll see some real loyalty. once they see that they can succeed at arsenal that’ll breed the loyalty… they’ll wants that feeling again
May 22, 2008 at 11:03
KJS, isn’t 4 years patience enough??
For me its not just about the lack of signings, its the other bits the club do like selling players just to get them off the wage bill. Those sort of ideas are that of a small or mid table team not a supposed major european force.
I do admit though this is the first summer that I’ve truly become frustrated & we haven’t even really started yet. The Nasri signing was clearly Wenger’s priority & its gone down the pan again, I bet he doesn’t have a backup plan either just like when we missed out on Baptista. I’ll be shocked if we sign anyone before the Euro’s have ended & even then we’ll wait for all the other clubs to sign the players they want & then we’ll go for the leftovers like always!
May 22, 2008 at 11:04
Morning .Any kit is better than cech’s dyna rod kit!!
Robinho is in London it’s on sky news.
May 22, 2008 at 11:06
David – any pictures of Robinho at le grove, or is he just in a kebab shop near scumford bridge?
May 22, 2008 at 11:07
London Sort – Nasri to fly to london this morning for medical….
Vela arrives
Is this Shite or what
May 22, 2008 at 11:08
Didn’t some say a while ago that they had a reliable source saying that the cunts down the road had agreed a swap deal for Robinho and Berbatov?
May 22, 2008 at 11:09
it would be absolutely amazing if robinho went to the spuds, surely?
May 22, 2008 at 11:09
Don’t say Evo, just that he has been spotted.
May 22, 2008 at 11:09
a robinho unveiling today would be fucking magic
May 22, 2008 at 11:10
brinso while you are at it do you want my dreamcast, you can shoot zombies!
May 22, 2008 at 11:11
i didn’t realise beofre but Nasri hasn’t got a bad goal tally in internationals… he has played 7 games for France and scored 2 goals which isn’t bad at all for a midfielder
May 22, 2008 at 11:11
money, loyalty, no trophies, players leaving… none of this changes the heritage of our club. we are still perceived as part of “the big 4″ in england and europe, and lets not forget that this season has been exceptional, with tottenham and portsmouth taking the carling and FA cups, respectively. granted we went out of each weakly to man u and the spuds, but we fielded undermanned sides in both those games as well. we do need to come out in the coming season and prove ourselves as real challengers for silverware again, but thats nothing different from the season just past. we still only finished 4 points off the pace in the EPL, and got to the quarter finals in each of the cups and champions league.
we’ll see how all that plays out in the near future, but now we need to get someone’s signiture on a bit of paper, and i’m sorta hanging out for more news on david villa atm! i’m still positive on that front. yes he is a big name, and arsene has said “a big player is better than a big name”, and yes, he isn’t exactly what we’ve been thinking we need, but again, arsene is fairly closed about everything, so i expect us to pull something big on us in the next month or so. i think villa could slot in nicely next to (future captain) cesc. not his normal position, i know, but arsene converts people to play his way, and it works, alot!
the other player i really want news on is vincent kompany. i think he would fit in superbly beside gallas/song/toure. another massive addition to the team, and i think it isn’t that far from impossible.
other than that, idk what to make of this nasri bs… i think i might agree with whoever stated earlier that it could be agent-spawned crap probing for a bigger, better offer. still wouldn’t mind him at arsenal, but what is the hold-up? l’OM have no more games to play (unlike lyon, and by extention, ben afra, whom i am still positive we’ll sign) and so should be fair-game. also, harking back to that take about “no other offers” for nasri, that may’ve been agent-spawned too, searching for someone to actually put some money on the table!
idk, end of my speil though =D
May 22, 2008 at 11:12
surely robinho couldnt even entertain a move to spurs.. going from playing with cassilias, cannavaro and sneijder to dawson, steed malbranque and bloody jenas… no chance!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 11:13
Tom if we unveiled Robinho today i would e-mail Arsenal and offer my services as Wengers peronal shoe shiner for a year for free… that’s how happy i would be.
Robinho is a player i have wanted to see at the Arsenal since we was first linked with him 4 years ago.
May 22, 2008 at 11:15
goonerjay – nasri’s goal ratio for marseille is even worse – 121 appearances for only 11 goals
May 22, 2008 at 11:16
Im not agreeing with a lot of this.
We have the 3rd highest wage bill in the Prem, behind Chelsea and Utd, and above Pool. Our boys are paid fantastically well. And more to the point, at Arsenal, there is the opportunity to earn top, top salaries like TH14 and PV4 and others did (and do). But you have to earn those contracts. You dont get them just for turning up with a fat transfer fee. Thats the way we do business.
Last season was great. Lots of players did really well, came on a helluva lot. Players like Adebayor, who is still nowhere near the finished article, scoring 30 goals for us and leading the line on his own for a large part of the season. Good on yer Ade, keep it up, you will get a pay rise if you keep improving. But TH14 didnt get his £100,000 pw contract until he’d done 6 years with us. 6 astonishing years. So, there’s yer carrot… carry on…
So why should we sign Johnny Bigname Striker for £25m, pay him £100,000 pw for 5 years (another £25m) and write off £50m on one player who might get injured, who might not work out, and who we might lose a load of money on? And what does that mean to the rest of the squad? Players like Theo and Nic, who really need games and minutes, and who probably think they did enough to deserve more minutes next year, but now find Johnny Bigname pushing 30 Goal Ade to the bench and them right off it.
And we become mini-Chelsea, or mini-Utd, some giant repulsive juggernaut with staggering debts and players demanding parity with the other top earners, and suddenly we’re out of control. No thanks. Not here. Carry on the way we are please. Whatever we win, we earnt it… whatever Utd or Chelsea win, they bought it…
May 22, 2008 at 11:16
So Cashley Cole, how was it lifting the Champions League Trophy? it must have been a nice feeling huh???
May 22, 2008 at 11:16
http://translate.google.com/translate?sourceid=navclient&hl=en&u=http%3a%2f%2fwww%2emarca%2ecom%2fedicion%2fmarca%2ffutbol%2f1a%5fdivision%2freal%5fmadrid%2fes%2fdesarrollo%2f1125826%2ehtml
May 22, 2008 at 11:16
robinho would be nice too… haha, gdi! excitement… any of you guys wanna go find him out, pose as a taxi-driver and get “lost”, conveinently arriving at arsenal stadium to meet a massive press conference and arsene himself? =D
May 22, 2008 at 11:16
Given that the league finished nearly two weeks ago; I think its strange that we haven’t signed any players from the EPL – don’t see why there should be any delays so think it’s unlikely that we’ll be signing anyone English or with EPL experience.
May 22, 2008 at 11:16
yeah me 2 jay, he’s class and we nearly got him before he went to madrid his pace would be awesome with cesc/rosicky threading those balls through.
James Bartram (great name by the way)
the villa thing has gone so quiet i wouldnt be surprised if we signed him!!! and no one else seems to be linked with him which is even more surprising!
May 22, 2008 at 11:18
Chris
I can understand that you want to donate your dreamcast kit to me, fine. Whats up with shooting Zombies? i dont get it
May 22, 2008 at 11:19
house of the dead, it was the only decent game on the blasted device
May 22, 2008 at 11:21
David – Even our Yellow ‘It’s Thomas, It’s Up For Grabs Now’ Kit???? Personally, i loved it, coz it was sooooo different from everyone elses kits at the time……….played havoc on your eyes after a night out though!!
May 22, 2008 at 11:21
GMR – I was referring to patience with regards to transfers for this summer.
Yes 4 years is enough, there are a degree of mitigating circumstances around that timeframe. But the club has now been quite vocal in 1 form or another about making investment this summer and on that basis I am prepared to be just that little bit more patient – that is just my opinion – I don’t expect it to be shared by everyone.
This bit isn’t linked to your previous comments in anyway GMR, but I just think the dramatic responses that we saw yesterday where people were getting bent out of shape simply because Nasri didn’t sign YESTERDAY – were just way OTT !! Primarily for some of the reasons I raised above.
May 22, 2008 at 11:23
Scuba – to be fair though there haven’t been any dealings yet between Premiership clubs at all
May 22, 2008 at 11:24
Robinho has said he doesnt want to go to shite hart lane, lets keep everything crossed and hope it is a swap and cash for hleb…
May 22, 2008 at 11:27
wow… funky little translation by google, kinda surprising though. i thought that robinho was a pretty regular starter for real these days, not just a bench-warmer. who said it’d be a slow news day… it could get massive!!!
as to david villa, mr Arsenal Tom (Bartram), who also has an awesome name, i guess we’ll just have to hold out and see.
there are alot of players who could benefit arsenal football club alot, and these are just two of them… i look forward to more on both fronts (unless robinho does sign with the chavs, spuds or man u, in which case gdi!!!) =D
May 22, 2008 at 11:29
some of the comments say they should demand toure cesc hleb and ……………………..
EBOUE!
best of luck with that one
May 22, 2008 at 11:29
gidster
Players like Theo and Nic, who really need games and minutes, and who probably think they did enough to deserve more minutes next year, but now find Johnny Bigname pushing 30 Goal Ade to the bench and them right off it.
with that attitude sounds like your happy with developing talent again !
doesnt this ON HOLD SHITE mean anything too you ?
nasri is on hold pending bigger clubs being interested in him !
BIGGER clubs .. Not so long ago we were a big club .. now we are 2nd rate and with your attitude of lets have another year of football manager , is not helping ..
I thought last month we all agreed we need EXPERIENCE !
now everyone here is slipping back into the mentality of play them until they come good !!
We have LOST flamini – Hleb .. we CANNOT replace them with sunday league potential !
Do that and we will be GROUND HOG DAYING IT .. AGAIN !!!
May 22, 2008 at 11:29
john terry was bawling his eyes out after the game, couldnt have happened to a better bloke!
May 22, 2008 at 11:29
Gidster – Do you think that our wage bill is so high because we’ve overpaid our teenagers to attract them to The Arsenal? Coz as an absolute guess if you’ve got 25 teenagers on £10k a week that soon adds up, that’s a lot of money being diverted away from the first team…….
May 22, 2008 at 11:31
to be fair, if we sign almost anyone thats been mentioned on this blog then 90% will be very happy!!
and who said there was no big news!!!???…….
mark schwarzer has signed for fulham!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 11:32
so far there has only been 3 signings in the EPL
1. Boswinga for Chavs
2. Modric for spuds
3. Degen for pool
May 22, 2008 at 11:33
Well that link from Chris has just brightened up my morning… Robinho’s agent talking about Robinho coming to London if he doesn’t get playing time… which he lost at the end of the season again… please please please be something in it… if we signed Robinho it would be like the day we signed Bergkamp all over again
May 22, 2008 at 11:33
4. Schwarzer for fulham.
why the fuck would you do that?
May 22, 2008 at 11:34
we will have to mute our hopes it could be anyone at this stage,
May 22, 2008 at 11:35
also, gidster, i kinda agree with your little analysis of our wage structure. the only problem with it is that your examples are a year old or more. players like freddie and TH14 would’ve been earning alot a year ago, and gallas is on 100,000 p/w or something i think i read a couple of days ago… idk other stats but i highly doubt that we have as many players earning over 50k as the chavs do, and almost certainly not more than 2 over 100k, if that! i’d probably put us at 5th amongst other clubs as to how much we pay the players. i doubt liverpool are below us, and i wouldn’t be surprised if everton, or city, or villa, or even blackburn spent more than us on wages too. again though, not certain, but just a haunch.
May 22, 2008 at 11:35
Say a lot for Middlesboro and Gareth Southgate………….especially as they had offered him a new contract…..
May 22, 2008 at 11:36
evo… all about money mate! sky reported he turned down a new borough deal to join fulham and lets be honest he hasnt gone there for ‘footballing reasons’
May 22, 2008 at 11:37
yeah fair enough…they must be offering a shit load of coin to go there…
May 22, 2008 at 11:37
Arsenal Tom – Maybe it’s a Northern Monkey thing??
May 22, 2008 at 11:38
I don’t understand this attitude that if we make a big signing we are going to turn into a two headed monster or something. What are we, pure as a sixtenn year old virgin and we must not be tainted? FFS. So what if Man Utd and Chelsea signed big? That’s how football works!
It’s the way of the football world, players move around for big fees and either you are in the game or you are not. Why should we be some kind of moral exception? We’ve always signed players in the past.
May 22, 2008 at 11:41
what do u mean dennis? he was tryna get away?? to be fair middlesborough wouldnt be high on my list of places to live either!!!
May 22, 2008 at 11:41
Gidster, sorry but that comment was straight from another website 2-4 weeks ago. If you sign a player for 25 million & pay him 25 million in wages over 5 years how exactly does that equal losing 50 million??
If he gets injured the club are insured against that so financially they don’t suffer. If it doesn’t work out they don’t keep him for 5 years so the wages wouldn’t equal 25 million & they would also get money back on the transfer out so again they wouldn’t be losing anything like 50 million. As its a big name player it attracts more attention & therefore the club gets a bigger following, sell more shirts etc etc etc, this has happened time & again at different clubs & even happened at Arsenal when Bergkamp signed (of course though you wouldn’t have wanted him because he was just a big name who would bankrupt the club & add nothing).
Besides all of that there is also the what IF it actually works out & the player does settle, then potentially he could help win you leagues & maybe the CL are earn you 100’s of millions in prize money & TV revenue.
Wenger has his way of doing things & Mourinho & Ferguson have theirs (who was the most successful?), you agree with Wenger’s way (thats your choice) but don’t be fooled that Arsenal achieve & the others just buy because it doesn’t add up. Arsenal spend a lot of money on wages for average players & kids that we’ll never see in the first team which is why man utd’s wage bill is only 2 million more than ours. I’m sick of hearing how we develop talent, no we don’t, we rob other clubs of youngsters they have developed & then claim it was great coaching. There is not one player in our first team thats come from our academy.
May 22, 2008 at 11:45
Arsenal Tom – Yeh, just trying to bad mouth anything Northern……….but in all seriousness, he probably was swayed by Middlesborough v London and more importantly £30k pw v £50k pw……………call me an old synic, but London wins everytime………..
May 22, 2008 at 11:46
oO, great news for schwarzer! i thought he’d be in italy this coming season… i guess he’ll get alot of shot-stopping practice for when the aussies play, while he’s at fulham though, he he =P
May 22, 2008 at 11:46
AGREED dennis
May 22, 2008 at 11:47
well………………….its now on official site. YYYYYessss!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 11:48
Gidster – I too am unhappy with the amount of money we’re throwing at average teenagers who never make an impact on the first team……………what’s the answer though?
May 22, 2008 at 11:51
Evo – Fulham could’ve been offering me the same wonga as Middlesboro and i would’ve bitten their hand off for the chance to live and work in London……..
May 22, 2008 at 11:52
I dotn think we have the 3rd highest wage bill.
Have you got the figures to back it up?
I am sure Liverpool, Newcastle and Spurs would be above us.
May 22, 2008 at 11:56
On what do you base your guess, Mark ?
As to paying the kids too much money. We sold Muamba, Larsen, Sidwell, Stokes etc etc. and they pay for the running of the youth set up.
May 22, 2008 at 12:02
yeah london beats middlesborough every time.
cant wait to see those magic words on the arsenal site… “so and so signs for arsenal on a long term contract for an undisclosed fee”
im dying for some news… ive never seen newsnow soo dull!
May 22, 2008 at 12:04
http://www.footballeconomy.com/reports.htm
bit old but
May 22, 2008 at 12:05
According to this link from the Evening Standard, Nasri is flying in today for a medical.
http://www.thisislondon.co.uk/sport/article-23486575-details/article.do?ito=newsnow&
However, why would he be flying in for a medical if his agent and the player himself are considering other options??
May 22, 2008 at 12:11
his agent sounds like a cunt to me!! suprise suprise!!
if he gets a better offer then good luck to him, we dotn need another hleb on our hands!
im sticking with my policy of ignoring want agents say… i cant think of one agent whos done anything to help arsenal in the last few years
May 22, 2008 at 12:11
couple of links here, one regarding CRonaldo, the other regarding Ade…
CRonaldo link – http://sports.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/05/222/Premier-League-Ronaldo-on-future/?facets/great-britain-locale/sport-space/football/
Ade – http://sports.setanta.com/en/Sport/News/Football/2008/05/222/Serie-A-Ancelotti-reveals-striker-targets/?facets/great-britain-locale/sport-space/football/
May 22, 2008 at 12:16
probably sensible Tom but i refuse to ignore Robinhos agent saying he will bring Robinho to the Emirates if he doesn’t get regular football… i refuse… that is the sort of shit that keeps me sane in summer being an arsenal fan.
May 22, 2008 at 12:17
agents are all cunts, and there successes fuel there welfare unfortunately… if for example, ade’s agent complained that he was unhappy at arsenal, and ade did get the touted pay-rise, ade’s agent gets a nice little “thank-you” bonus!
unfortunately this world is fuelled by the concept of money, and its inescapable. they are where half of this trash-talk comes from, the other half being the media.
May 22, 2008 at 12:24
GMR, yes I agree with you in the sense that spending loads of money on ready-made world class talent and paying them huge wages isnt necessarily a recipe for disaster. It can work, wonderfully well for sure. But its much more risky to go down that route, and we’re not in a financial position to readily take on lots of those risks.
Chelsea are. They are £750m in debt, but it doesnt matter. Then can sign superstar after superstar, pay monstrous wages, it doesnt matter. Roman is picking up the tab, drinks all round. Who cares if it goes wrong? Its a write off… the whole club…
Utd are too. They are also £750m in debt, and it does matter to them, they are paying £60 – 70m worth of interest on those debts every year. Almost half their profit, so its manageable. Utd have a long history of buying big players on big wages. Always have done. Thats their perogative, they can afford it. The Glazers probably have no intention of paying off that debt. I wouldnt. I would manage it, and sell when the time is right to someone willing to take on the debt and give me some profit as well. Business, innit?
But football is littered with clubs who tried to buy success and ended up broke. Dortmund, Roma, Lazio, Valencia, Benfica, Marseilles, Leeds… these are big clubs, Arsenal-sized clubs (in that they are big, but not the biggest, in their leagues, except Benfica). Liverpool are currently stoning, stinking broke. Rafa has blown all the cash. Thats why they’re trying to hawk Crouch for £15m, signing Swiss internationals on free-transfers. And Rafa wants more cash! Like he hasnt spent enough…
So putting £50m on yer balance sheet for 1 player (and its £50m, which ever way you cut it at £25m fee + £25m in wages) is not necessarily a loss, and I dont believe I said it was a loss, but its a cost. And when you’re in the position where you have to watch that cost (like Us and Pool, but not Utd and Chelsea), then I’d rather have Wenger holding the chequebook than Rafa.
What i took from last nights game is that Utd and Chelsea have better centre backs than us. And better keepers. Otherwise, those wages and transfer fees dont seem to be getting them any more than us in terms of skill or ability. We didnt win anything coz our centre backs are a bit soft and our keeper is only ok.
May 22, 2008 at 12:24
The Standard have got it all wrong, they are using yesterday’s info for some reason.
Nasri joined up with the French squad last night & won’t be going anywhere until after the Euro’s. Thats not to say he won’t decide which club to join but he won’t be doing any medicals!!
May 22, 2008 at 12:32
Reports are that he is flying in to AFC later today, from the french camp
probably bollocks tho….
May 22, 2008 at 12:33
jay… ok ill go half way… ill ignore the bad stuff… stuff like that about robinho i will read… probably 10 times a day!!
GMR dont be so sure mate, players get let out of their training camps to go and finalise transfer deals allot… all wenger would have to do is to book a room somwhere round the corner and get his agent to bring him round.
May 22, 2008 at 12:35
GMR – Hey! What a shock, a daily rag reusing and old story/link, who’d have thought it.
May 22, 2008 at 12:36
gidster, you only pay 50 million pounds if said signed player stays at the club for the full extent of his contract. if he isn’t any-good after 3 years, you sell him for 15 million pounds, thus you are not paying for two years wages, no bonuses, and you make 15 mill’ on the sale, meaning you end the period even… thats how i see it. sure, a five year contract entitles the player to certain benefits, but thats what clauses are for.
there are ways around these things, thats business.
May 22, 2008 at 12:36
So… I’ve been away for 2 hours…
Who have we signed!
May 22, 2008 at 12:37
Gidster, you make some good points. But again all those clubs you have mentioned don’t take the p*** out their fans by charging them the highest price in world football to attend games. Arsenal shouldn’t be able to have it both ways.
Either they start challenging the top 2 in terms of transfers & quality or they admit they can’t do that & they reduce the admission prices accordingly & start going for the s*** trophies that the big clubs aren’t bothered about!!
Whether you finish 4 points or 40 points behind the winners is irrelevant because the outcome is the same.
I think one vital point you overlook is that youngsters just see Arsenal as a stepping stone. They know at Arsenal they are in the limelight & from there they can move to a big club to actually challenge for trophies & earn the big money, none of them are loyal to the club. Arsene Wenger is allowing this behaviour to continue & in all truth has turned us into a rich mans copy of Ajax. We seem to just make up the numbers these days, none of the big european teams see us as a threat.
If Man Utd go to play AC Milan its a 50-50 game, but us beating AC Milan is labelled as Milan being failures, the same thing happened with Real Madrid & its because we are viewed as a small club on the continent & the board behave like a small club except when it comes to ripping off the fans!!
May 22, 2008 at 12:37
No one…as usual!
May 22, 2008 at 12:38
heh, pity mark milligan left aus for a session at arsenal, when he was meant to be training with the socceroos. he later got sanctioned by pim verbeek.
May 22, 2008 at 12:39
Arsenal Tom, If it was any other international team he played for I’d agree with you, but the fact is he’d need a proper medical which Arsenal would have done in London & I don’t see Domenech allowing any player time off to go for a medical with Arsenal as he hates Wenger.
May 22, 2008 at 12:43
Marvellous…
GMR, at least Le Grove treats its supporters with respect.
We can officially announce a price freeze on blogging… we will be free all next year as well!
May 22, 2008 at 12:44
Latest on Nasri:
SAMIR NASRI could wait until after Euro 2008 before deciding if he will sign for Arsenal.
The Marseille and France midfielder, 20, is considering an offer to join the Gunners in a £12million move.
But his agent Jean-Pierre Bernes insisted: “We are in no hurry.
“From now on, Samir is on international duty and he is going to dedicate himself to the France team.
“It is true, we are looking at an offer from Arsenal which interests Samir from a sporting point of view.
“But other offers have also come through to me.
“Outside of England, there are those from Spain and even Italy.
“He must not dismiss any offer.”
If Arsenal were half the club they claim to be they’d come out & say Nasri can shove the offer up his arse & that we will sign someone else, but they won’t do that they’ll let him p*** them about until a better offer comes in & then Wenger will start on about how Nasri was his only real target!!
May 22, 2008 at 12:44
you hero Pedro! the world-over should take your money grubbing ways as an example ;P
May 22, 2008 at 12:45
Football Spy: Arsenal bid £11m for Nasri
By John Cross 22/05/2008
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arsene wenger wants player dubbed ‘the new zidane
(What’s this?)ARSENE WENGER has tabled an £11million bid for the “new Zinedine Zidane” – Marseille’s Samir Nasri.
Gunners boss Wenger is confident of making the 20-year-old France forward his first major summer signing after Nasri made it clear to Marseille that he wants to join Arsenal.
Wenger has been tracking Nasri for several weeks and sees him as a versatile attacking player who can operate either wide or just behind the main striker..
NB: NASRI MADE IT CLEAR TO MARSEILLE THAT HE WANTS TO JOIN ARSENAL – THIS IS A DONE DEAL GIVEN THE CONTIGENT OF FRENCH PLAYERS AT ARSENAL. I BOUGHT THE NEW KIT TWO HOURS AGO AND HAD MY FAVOURITE PLAYER FABREGAS NAME & NO. BRANDED ON IT. IM LOOKING FORWARD TOA GREAT SEASON…….
May 22, 2008 at 12:46
Here here GMR… i’m by no means a religious man but i’ll say Ahmen to that
May 22, 2008 at 12:46
again today… fucking agents!!!
anyways guys, i’m off to bed, catch you in the morning =D
May 22, 2008 at 12:47
Cheers James, we just felt we couldn’t justify a price hike without a trophy!
May 22, 2008 at 12:48
pedro ur a great human being. i salute u
May 22, 2008 at 12:52
Pedro for Arsenal Chairman.
May 22, 2008 at 12:53
Just make sure you sign up to my bastard mailing list… that is all I ask…
Oh, and read my hilarious widgets in the side bar.
May 22, 2008 at 12:57
GMR, you raise a good pooint – we get charged top 2 prices but can’t pay top 2 wages/players fees.
This is an annoying inconsistency that AFC perpetuate nad exploits our love of the club.
But as I’ve said before – it’s not about brand loyalty.
May 22, 2008 at 12:58
Who has read this?
Ancellotti:
‘We will sign one of Drogba, Eto’o, Adebayor or Amauri. All of those players have perfect characteristics.’
May 22, 2008 at 13:00
I have Pedro… one word came to mind…. TWAT.
How many times does Ade have to tell hm this summer that he is staying with the Arsenal? Fucking Italian cheating mob run cunts i hate em all
May 22, 2008 at 13:02
He’s a cunt, he should be reported to FIFA or Wenger should say we’d like to sign Kaka.
May 22, 2008 at 13:05
Why is the new kit not on Arsenal.com? or has Wenger said he’s confident the current kit is good enough and he believes in it. It has spirit and belief in itself.
May 22, 2008 at 13:05
I would love it if Ancelotti took Adebayor. I know it sounds stupid giving the fact we’re losing players but long term he isn’ the answer and I wouldn’t trust him as far as I could throw him personality wise. I think Wenger has doubts about him long term as well. I would prefer Santa Cruz or Etoo.
How much do you wanna bet the Nasri transfer has been held up due to malaise on our side? I bet you either Wenger, Friar or one of those clowns has planted doubt by doing something untoward, or interpreted as untoward by Nasri.
May 22, 2008 at 13:06
Wenger should come out and say ” Adebayor is not for sale so that Vulture Ancelotti can look elsewhere. But if he does want to talk transfers with me maybe he could give me a price on Kaka because i hear he is geting bored at Milan and he would look great in my attacking team”
May 22, 2008 at 13:07
Lol… good one Geoff
May 22, 2008 at 13:07
too right geoff.. get in there and play it their way
May 22, 2008 at 13:09
Giving up Arsenal. I can’t be arsed with Arsenal’s silence. If we have made a bid, why not tell us. Fuck me it is 2008. Our lot still do not recognise the internet and think that if they stay quiet nothing will get out……….. sick of this torture !!!!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 13:10
No I just think Nasri wants to join a big club rather than going sideways by joining a team that will better his current wage but won’t win him any trophies.
May 22, 2008 at 13:10
Pedro – How is Ancellotti allowed to come out in the press and say such things, surely this amounts to public tapping up contracted players?? Classless cunt, if he had anything about him he’d ring the club to ask permission to speak to the player(s) before mouthing off. Why are FIFA/UEFA not stamping out such practices?
May 22, 2008 at 13:11
Finally a concrete Transfer Rumour:
John Terry is joining West Ham as he was heard singing ‘ I’m forever blowing doubles!’
May 22, 2008 at 13:13
Bud, thats a classic!! lol
May 22, 2008 at 13:15
Can we just go in with a mega offer for Ben Arfa to f*** Marseille up & send a message to that little c*** Nasri.
May 22, 2008 at 13:15
LOL Bud
May 22, 2008 at 13:17
jt vodka… bottled in moscow
May 22, 2008 at 13:22
The Marseille and France midfielder, 20, is considering an offer to join the Gunners in a £12million move.
But his agent Jean-Pierre Bernes insisted: “We are in no hurry.
“From now on, Samir is on international duty and he is going to dedicate himself to the France team.
“It is true, we are looking at an offer from Arsenal which interests Samir from a sporting point of view.
“But other offers have also come through to me.
“Outside of England, there are those from Spain and even Italy.
“He must not dismiss any offer.”
IS THIS THE THING WE ARE TALKING ABOUT……………………..LOYALTY
THE KID IS JUST AROUND 20 AND HE HAS THIS ATTITUDE,HOW DARE HIS AGENT SAY THAT HE WILL WAIT FOR OTHER OFFERS TOO.SOME OF THE BLOKES ARE RIGHT!!!! WE ARE NOT THE BIGGEST CLUB AS WE USED TO BE,FORGET THE FINANCIAL DATA BUT DO U THINK A PLAYER WOULD HAVE SAID 3-4 YRS AGO THAT ABOUT ARSENAL…WE ARE LOSING OUR VALUE AND UNLESS WE COMPETE WE WONT WIN A THING…..
AND FOR ME PERSONALLY…THE CUNT CAN F@#K OFF ..IF HE THINKS HE IS SUCH A GREAT PLAYER SO THAT ARSENAL CAN WAIT FOR HIM …U CAN AGAIN F@#K OFF AGAIN
PLZ I DONT WANNA SEE ANOTHER SEASON TROPHYLESS ……..ITS JUST MAKE ME CRY…PLZ WENGER DONT FOOL THE FANS…WE DESERVE SOMETHING BETTER .
THIS IS THE SEASON
U CAN EITHER PROVE YOURSELF OR U CAN FOOL US FOR ANOTHER 4 SEASONS WITH YOUR YOUNGSTER CRAP..ITS NOW OR NEVER
May 22, 2008 at 13:24
“JT Vodka……Bottled in Moscow”…………..fucking excellent!
May 22, 2008 at 13:25
Buy TH14 back. He wouldn’t wait for other offers if we made one for him !!!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 13:28
Hleb’s representative, Uli Ferber, told AS: “For any player in the world, it is always a great honor that a club like Real Madrid is interested in him.
“This confirms the good work that Hleb has carried out in the last years is being recognized by one of the greatest clubs in the world. Nobody can doubt that the interest of Madrid is a privilege for the player.”
BYE THEN>>>>>>> AND WE’LL HAVE ROBINHO IN A SWAP DEAL…… TA !!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 13:30
bud….maybe thats whys robinhos in london… id fucking carry helb to madrid if we got robinho
May 22, 2008 at 13:34
I’d be more than happy with that Bud… swap deal Hleb for Robinho then get Ben Arfa and tell Nasri to get fucked
May 22, 2008 at 13:34
We can only wish, but lets be honest, we have more chance of signing for Arsenal than Robinho !!!!!!
Why every year are we such a fucking joke ?!!
May 22, 2008 at 13:37
Tom I will give you a hand to carry Hleb to Madrid! That guy is so overrated, if they want him please come and take him.
May 22, 2008 at 13:41
He is a bloody good freestyler, not a good allround footballer !!!
May 22, 2008 at 13:46
i have supported arsenal for a long time and i like the coach the players and the style.u have spoken well mayank.if we go another season trophyless then i think its time to say thank you very much mr Wenger but fuck off!!! we deserve to win the premiership,the champs legue,the FA cup,carling cup and any trophy that is there simply because we are ARSENAL and we play good football.The fans deserve better
May 22, 2008 at 13:51
GMR, i totally agree with you over the ticket prices. Thats a good point, one i hadnt considered. Im an “occasional” at Highbury and the Grove. For the season ticket holders paying those prices, yep, you’re gonna be more irked at a lack of trophies than those of us who dont give a grand to the gunners every year. And you wanna see top names too coz you’re buying them. I concede that you have good reason to feel differently about this from me. Its a very good comment.
Dave Villa and Eto’o are 2 massive superstars who have openly said they would love to play for Arsenal, Kaka signled us out as the Prem team he would like to play for if he came over. There are big players who would like to come to us, but I dont think Wenger wants them. Vialli and Cappello picked us to beat Milan. I didnt see it as a shock at all.
Signing Nasri doesnt make a great deal of difference to us. Centre backs is what we need. Nasri’s agent is just trying to get his man (and himself) the most money. Good for him.
James Bartram… yes, you can sell your big name signing if he doesnt work out and cut your loses. you can also sell him for a profit if you’re lucky and make a bit of money. Or, he can be a big hit, and you can end up renegotiating that contract and it costs you even more.
The point I wanted to make was that by bringing in players on vast contracts at the start of their time at the club is that it raises the bar for every other player. I prefer new players to be in a position whereby they can become a top earner IF they produce for us, and not come in as a top earner because of what they did for some other club. There should be some stick before they get the carrot.
May 22, 2008 at 14:04
Gidster – your spot on.
Ben Arfa, Nasri – window dressing is what these guys are.
Two tough no nosense centre halfs who win headers, and a quality striker is what we want.
May 22, 2008 at 14:14
rush to get nasri or play the negotiation game and get robinho or similar?
as long as they come i dont mind but i am sick of pressing F5 expecting news,
May 22, 2008 at 14:16
According to Marca (the mouthpiece of Real Madrd) a deal has been agreed between RM and the greasy winker and only convincing the Mancs to sell remains to close the deal.
Only !
May 22, 2008 at 14:17
Chris, click the up and down green arrows button if you tire of F5.
It’s what I do, for a bit of variety.
May 22, 2008 at 14:25
However, the Portuguese star told Radio 5 Live: “I don’t promise nothing. I don’t promise nothing to my mum, I don’t promise nothing to supporters.”
He added: “I want to stay but the future – no-one knows. I want to stay. We are going to see in the next two weeks, I don’t say I make a decision.”
Hahahaha!
May 22, 2008 at 14:36
that’s just felgercarb charybdis!
May 22, 2008 at 14:42
I can’t see SAF being happy with Ronaldo. The lad could be getting a new hairstyle and some stitches.
Stam disrespects the club. SAF gets rid of him. Horseface – the same. Argue with him? ….. Goodbye Becks
I think AW could learn from him
May 22, 2008 at 15:05
How many time have you clicked news now today? I’ve done it about 400 times… boring boring news feeds!
I think in a perfect world, we’d sign a player every 3 weeks till August… that would do me for the summer!
May 22, 2008 at 15:05
Yup, what the frakking hell was I thinking Chris !
May 22, 2008 at 15:06
Good point Big Raddy. That only happens to english players like bentley and convict pennant. He should have chucked Hleb on the bench when he heard about the Icecreamgate, instead of turning a blind eye.
Toughen up Wenger,about time these sissy-boys know who the boss is!!
May 22, 2008 at 15:08
Big Raddy, I wish what Greasy Winker is reported to have said is true – I think ‘ole 65% proof nose will indulge Ronaldo on this occcasion – he’s not in the expendable category…yet.
May 22, 2008 at 15:13
Has anyone seen how the BBC have headed up last nights reporting ? “How Man U fulfilled their destiny”
Destiny ? DESTINY ! At least try and sound impartial/neutral.
Their getting as bad as SKY with their sucking up to the Manc Scum
May 22, 2008 at 15:21
In a french paper it’s saying something along the lines of Nasri’s transfer can only be completed on Monday. Some contractual thing.
May 22, 2008 at 15:33
http://www.arsenal.com/article.asp?thisNav=news&article=491744&cpid=703&title=Season+Review+Week:+The+midfielders+and+the+strikers
Please read this and note the final paragraph of the midfielders section… what bollox
May 22, 2008 at 15:34
perhaps they have a transfer window, like we do
May 22, 2008 at 15:35
IF Milan were to offer £25m for Ade, what Gooner would turn that down? we have Bendtner who is nearly as good and we could buy a class striker. wenger must know a few of those!
Ancelotti – either pay big money or shut the fuck up.
May 22, 2008 at 15:36
If the article said ‘cross dresser’ , I may believe it.
May 22, 2008 at 15:39
I wouldn’t accept £25million for Ade – Where would we find another 30 goal a season striker? I really think all the attention he is receiving is deserved. He is one of the most feared strikers round Europe… Keep him!
Nikki B could be great as well… then we’d have to great bean poll strikers!
Sell Hleb… Get Robinho!
May 22, 2008 at 15:39
LOL… nice one Raddy
May 22, 2008 at 15:40
I saw the title and got excited…..
http://www.telegraph.co.uk/sport/main.jhtml?xml=/sport/2008/05/22/ufnrobin122.xml
May 22, 2008 at 15:49
I don’t believe it… an article from sportingo i agree with
http://www.sportingo.com/Football/a8780_Fabulous-Fabregas-man-who-really-makes-Arsenal-tick
May 22, 2008 at 15:55
fuck me… i think i just saw a tumble weed roll by.. it’s like a ghost town on here
May 22, 2008 at 16:00
If theres nothing “new” out there, heres something to cheer us up!
St Peter
Colin came home from the pub late one Friday evening stinking drunk, as he often did, and crept into bed beside his wife who was already asleep.
He gave her a peck on the cheek and fell asleep. When he awoke he found a strange man standing at the end of his bed wearing a long flowing white robe. “Who the hell are you?” Demanded Colin, “and what are you doing in my bedroom?”.
The mysterious Man answered, “This isn’t your bedroom and I’m St Peter”.
Colin was stunned “You mean I’m dead!!! That can’t be, I have so much to live for, I haven’t said goodbye to my family….you’ve got to send me back straight away”.
St Peter replied “Yes, you can be reincarnated but there is a catch. We can only send you back as a dog or a hen.”
Colin was devastated, but knowing there was a farm not far from his house, he asked to be sent back as a hen. A flash of light later he was covered in feathers and clucking around pecking the ground. “This ain’t so bad” he thought until he felt this strange feeling welling up inside him.
The farmyard rooster strolled over and said, “So you’re the new hen, how are you enjoying your first day here?”
“It’s not so bad” replies Colin, “but I have this strange feeling inside like I’m about to explode”.
“You’re ovulating” explained the rooster, “don’t tell me you’ve never laid an egg before”.
“Never” replies Colin
“Well just relax and let it happen”
And so he did and after a few uncomfortable seconds later, an egg pops out from under his tail. An immense feeling of relief swept over him and his emotions got the better of him as he experienced motherhood for the first time.
When he laid his second egg, the feeling of happiness was overwhelming and he knew that being reincarnated as a hen was the best thing that ever happened to him…ever!!!
The joy kept coming and as he was just about to lay his third egg he felt an enormous smack on the back of his head and heard his wife shouting:
“Colin, wake up you drunken bastard, you’re shitting in the bed”
May 22, 2008 at 16:08
raddy – cant see red nose getting rid of ronaldo even if he screwed his Mrs !
You know i was watching the C.L highlights for the year .. ronaldo is all class !
I hate to say it … but he is ! anyone making ade out to be better than ronaldo are simply fucking blind !
I agree gazzap , ade had a lucky season everyone being injured let him take the lions share of the goals , coupled with that his greed on the ball .. I would jump at him being technically replaced by Villa .. 25 mil ! bring it i say ..
Villa is a man who has kept F.Torres out of the starting line up for spain in this EURO 08!
I REST MY CASE ! plus morale settling for cesc !
GMR- gotta say you and i are on the same wave length !
We demand more of AFC …either admit we are a selling club and reduce ticket pricing or buy some serious players and give the patrons there moneys worth !!
I will go a step further and say this stupid salary cap attitude held by the club needs to end or even players who have loyalty will leave ! Money is the root of all evil ..
tried telling that to pat in november ..
It ridiculous in any industry to think that any player will preform noticeably better in ANY club being paid 1/2 what the opposition pays there rivals ! But expect the same level or higher level of output, skill , experience and commitment !
and obud
i said that a few days ago ! about too many french connections .. and got shot down by a certain person ! My point is we are too 1 dimensional when hiring players , sort of like pick any player you want .. as long as he’s french !
It makes me wonder if grimandi is arsenes only scout .. or is the boss just doing his searching alone ???
either way .. there are a lot of great players in the world today .. you only need to look at the C.L highlights to work that out ..
Arsene get out the check book and sign experienced players who are settled
and get rid off half the current stock of players .. As im sure all the good ones will leave on there own accord this season .. if they haven’t already ..
May 22, 2008 at 16:09
Nice one t-buzz, got me laughing that one.
May 22, 2008 at 16:11
Fucking hilarious.
May 22, 2008 at 16:14
If Wenger is stingy with his players… can you imagine him spending lavishly on scouting?
He probably makes them watch the games on TV… with a dodgy sky card. If he wanted to get it cheaper, he should give Chris a shout… he’ll sopcast the scouts so the can do all their research from home!
May 22, 2008 at 16:14
Gidster, I had to pay £20k upfront for a 4 year contract for my seat at the Emirates. It is my choice to do that but I feel conned into it on the basis of things that clearly aren’t ever going to happen, whats happening at Arsenal is not what they were saying when we got invited to view seats.
I don’t care about superstar signings, I’m not bothered if we don’t sign players like Kaka or Eto, I just want to see some ready made quality like Sagna. Even Nasri or Ben Arfa aren’t exactly big names. I just don’t want more 17-19 year old kids who don’t add anything to the first team. Players like Sagna came in at the perfect age, with the experience we required & as a standout player in France.
May 22, 2008 at 16:15
Info from O.M. forum.
Wenger did not accept a meeting with Nasri’s Agent in person.
Then, except a few more turnarounds…
P.S. Nasri’s agent was convicted of corruption with Marseille (OM vs Valenciennes)and at the time, Wenger was at Monaco, not at all happy with the situation !
May 22, 2008 at 16:16
lol Good one Pedro,Iwouldnt be surprised cos all he’ll be paying for will just be broadband fee!!
May 22, 2008 at 16:32
Back to usual with ARsenals players being touted rather than us touting players…… oh well, it lasted a day !!!!!!!
Pedro – check out the mail I sent you to your le-grove account !!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 16:34
the beast wants hleb
http://goal.com/en/Articolo.aspx?ContenutoId=706505
May 22, 2008 at 16:47
GMR: thats an astonishing amount of money to pay for watching football. No wonder you’re pissed off. What level is that? Its not Diamond Club, is it?
It nearly covers Gallas’s salary for Monday and Tuesday this week.
In Wenger’s defence, over the last 3 years he has signed Hleb, Tommy, Eddie, Sagna, and Willy. These are players who fit the criteria in your 2nd paragraph. Wenger does do those types of signings. In fact, its almost his speciality… Henry, Vieira, Ljungberg, Pires, Gilberto, Edu, and on… and on… if its medium sized, slightly obscure signings you’re after then Wenger has done a good line in these in the past… and some bad ones too. Im sure its the bad signings he’s made which make him reluctant to go big.
If thats what you’re after, Wenger will provide it this summer. Along with a few 17 year olds coz the Old Bastard cant help himself… there’s a Carling Cup to play in after all…
May 22, 2008 at 16:53
GMR, I think what you just said there is spot on. No one in club level got what they were promised I don’t think it is unfair to ask for Arsenal to compete on 4 fronts.
I liken Arsene to a builder.
If someone gave Arsene £10k to build a wall he’d say he could do it for £2.5k and the wall would be just as strong… The person whose wall it is was would be pleased at this discounted rate becuase he is getting a good wall for peanuts and he is being assured of the quality.
If the wall falls down though, the man who offered him £10k will be pretty pissed. He foresaw the potential problem and was ignored.
If he has the patience to let Arsene build his wall again and he gives him £10k again… only to be shunned and told it can be done for £2.5k… the man whose wall Arsene is building is going to be mightily pissed off if the wall falls down again!
One would have to wonder if Arsene is just trying to be the first person to build a solid wall for £2.5k…?
Wenger’s metaphorical wall has fallen down 3 fucking times! How many more times are we going to let him build it with £2.5k again? There has to be a limit, there has to be a point where we ask someone else to build it properly… it is no use the certain sections saying the wall nearly stayed up… becuase nearly is not good enough!
Anyway, that is the last time I talk about walls…
May 22, 2008 at 16:53
Gidster, GMR is centre block club level. I wasn’t so brave and went for Corner Club and you pay a year at a time, but are then subject to increases……. when it is put like that though, £20K up front, I am thinking a chunk off the mortgage, a new car, a lot of fucking nice holidays or enough regular season tickets for all us Grovers…. (thanks GMR!) !!!!!!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 16:56
Bud… you are a lucky man!
May 22, 2008 at 17:02
It’s been a funny old week. We have AW building houses, Pedro building walls. Whatever next!
Seriously though Pedro your point is spot on.
I, like many others here, have just paid up for next season and I expect the team to complete seriously on 3 fronts at least (I would like it to be 4 but we know that won’t happen). I don’t want to hear any shit from Wenger next season about The FA Cup not being a priority of the club. Just because he is bored with it does not mean we are!
May 22, 2008 at 17:02
Compete
May 22, 2008 at 17:07
Is Nasri with us yet?
May 22, 2008 at 17:15
Apparently reports are saying we have signed that PSG youngster Clement Chantome. whoopy do!!!
May 22, 2008 at 17:25
pedro… how costly is chelsea’s wall then?
May 22, 2008 at 17:35
It’s a costly wall, but they guy building it was a bit of a con artist.
At least his wall made it to two finals and they only collapsed on the final day of the season!
May 22, 2008 at 17:41
Arsene built a wall which lasted till February. It just needs to last a few more months. Maybe it rained more than expected and the cheap mud used could not withstand it.
May 22, 2008 at 17:42
On another note, I wonder if a 25 million budget will buy you more than 2 players. After the Euros, it might just buy you one world class player ..
May 22, 2008 at 18:01
I think our budget is higher than £25million… Wenger can have whatever money he wants according to PHW!
3 world class players please! That should keep the wall strong!
May 22, 2008 at 18:02
Pedro, I meant to say your analogy was just so true!! The question is though does Wenger’s wall have any foundations??
May 22, 2008 at 18:21
van persis is still not fit… beat that….
May 22, 2008 at 18:22
thats how strong our wall is!!!
May 22, 2008 at 18:22
Good shout GMR… you take one brick away and it all collapses!
What a boring day of Arsenal news…
Just reading about… a lot of websites seem to think they have the inside line on transfer dealings. Who are their contacts?
How many people at Arsenal would realistically be involved in the transfer dealings?
May 22, 2008 at 18:27
Pedro, so the fact RVP still isn’t fit means that Wenger was lying yet again. He said it was a minor problem & would only miss one game, then he missed the following game & it was because there was no point risking him. Its now weeks on & RVP is still not fit, yet we as fans are supposed to have faith that he can carry the team next season.
Time for some new bricks if you ask me!!
May 22, 2008 at 18:29
Pink football (whoever they are) were reporting that we have signed that Clement Chantome from PSG.
May 22, 2008 at 18:42
we need concrete cement.. not bricks…
at least rosicky’s now got titanium in his legs!!
May 22, 2008 at 19:52
we need to have someone With Fire and drive Conducting our transfer dealings , whenever we seem to be interested in a player , if we get speaking to the clubs involved it takes us forever or we miss out because they,(the club/player) get a better offer.
I know the chavs have the russian but we all know that If you pay enough you get what you want i dont know if their new right back is worth 16.5m ,SURE HE’S NOT AS GOOD AS OURS , BUT thats what Porto wanted ,they said take it or leave it, Chavs coughed up and Bingo NEW SIGNING ….
WENGERS INSISTANCE ON ONLY PAYING WHAT HE DEEMS TO BE THE VALUE OF A PLAYER HAS COST US AND WILL PROBABLY COST US AGAIN NEXT SEASON.
WE SHOLUD TELL ALL THESE ARSEHOLE AGENTS THAT WHEN WE ARE ABLE TO AGREE A FEE WITH A CLUB AND TALK TO THE PLAYER THAT THEY HAVE A CERTAIN PERIOD OF TIME TO THINK ABOUT IT OR WE GO ELSEWHERE ,,,FUCK THEM ,IF THEY ONLY WANT TO PLAY FOR THE HIGHEST BIDDER ,
WE ARE ARSENAL FOOTBALL CLUB THEY SHOULD FEEL LUCKY TO PLAY IN A 60,000 STADIUM WHERE THE FANS WILL SUPPORT THEM THROUGH THICK AND THIN (EBOUE APART )
COMARADE HLEB I HOPE YOU REMEMBER THE SUPPORT YOU GOT IN YOUR BEDDING IN PERIOD OF ONLY 18 MONTHS!!!!!!!!!!!!!(GREEDY CUNT)
AW should learn to control what he says , ” i hope to have concluded my transfer buisness within 2- 3 weeks ” & as mentioned before the totally ill informed he has a slight knock he should be fit next week .
I just wish that before the euro’s start we make a statement signing ,(hleb to madrid Robhino To us would do for me )
And i Hope that the 2/3 quality players do not include the two young french players we have allegedly signed , I dont want any more 15 year old LATVIAN GOAT FARMER WONDERKIDS.
THIS season as most of US know is make or break for AW in regards of fan support ,I just hope HE Knows it…
May 22, 2008 at 19:58
can we lose the talk of bricks of just home from work and sick of bricks. did anyone else see terry spit at teves
May 22, 2008 at 19:58
Good evening all!
What a boring day… no news… no rumours…!
Hopefully Friday will bring a new signing!
I just watched the Manc Chav game… this could sound a bit rough, but I have to say it.
When you watch those two, you always feel like they are going to win… like there is more drive from their older heads. Both sides never look lost in the same way we do?
Is that experience or just the Arsenal mentality.
We feel that our technical passing will see us through… almost arrogantly. The other two use brute force and desire to change a game.
I don’t feel like our team has any steal? They have even less now Flamini is gone… who have we got who is scary? Like Essien, Drogba or Vidic…?
Nasri and Arfa are ballerinas… we need some warriors at Arsenal.
May 22, 2008 at 20:03
well said Pedro would love to Essien at Arsenal looked shit at r b last nite is he happy playing there
May 22, 2008 at 20:05
I doubt it… he looked pretty gutted when he let Ronaldo in!
What a player though… I wish we had a thug like that we could play in the middle of the park. I really think we need to spend in the middle… I don’t think Diaby – Denilson have it.
Barry would be a great solution, Gattuso would be even better.
May 22, 2008 at 20:08
LOL @ Pedro!
May 22, 2008 at 20:13
maybe it would be to hard to prize him away hes probly on a hundred grand a week
Altough W g came when they played him out of position we could swap with Eboue
May 22, 2008 at 20:14
does anyone know where i can find a video of the fabregas show???
May 22, 2008 at 20:16
pedro.. that is just what we need.. some one who will wake our players up when we are 1-0 down or 1-0 up.. we only realize at the 90th minute that we need to score or equalise.. !!!
May 22, 2008 at 20:17
A little news on the Arsenal front, the fans are itching to know who the “new guns” are gonna be, and being fans, understandably so. Vela’s been granted a work permit but Wenger wouldn’t have talked him up unless he knew Vela getting a work permit was a certainty.
RVP……top quality, Van Basten knows what he’s doing and is giving him the right kind of training. RVP is inujry prone but Van Basten will most probably opt for players who are fully match fit and use RVP sparingly, Holland have Huntellar, Robben, Van Nistelrooy, I can see RVP as a sub if he’s fit in time.
Do any of you guys play trophy manager? I joined the game a few days ago (free on trophymanager.com ), if any of you gents fancy signing up and joining my league, please let me know, the more competition the merrier, it certainly beats waiting for news and hey you never know, you could be a top manager (but of course you start from the ground upwards, no Henrys or RVPs in this game for neophytes, you have to train/buy them).
May 22, 2008 at 20:18
here is a torrent link kenny…
http://www.mininova.org/tor/1423225
and megaupload
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KD1JWPI3
and rapidshare
http://rapidshare.com/files/116755981/Cesc_Fabregas_Show_19th_May_2008.part1.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/116756155/Cesc_Fabregas_Show_19th_May_2008.part2.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/116756501/Cesc_Fabregas_Show_19th_May_2008.part3.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/116756844/Cesc_Fabregas_Show_19th_May_2008.part4.rar.html
http://rapidshare.com/files/116756729/Cesc_Fabregas_Show_19th_May_2008.part5.rar.html
May 22, 2008 at 20:21
finest… why don’t you just say… that’s the virtual arsenal!!!!
in real life as well as in the cyber world… broke!!
May 22, 2008 at 20:21
Thats it… a bit of guidance from the midfield. We have no one to drive the team like the Chavs and the mancs do. Cesc is great, but he will rarely get hold of the ball and rifle it in.
Oh how I yearn for another Bobby Pires… or a Dennis Bergkamp… and certainly a PV04!
Nasri looks great, but he doesn’t look 4 point better great does he?
Still, I would be glad to be wrong… he could be a mega star but I do sense he is Madrid destined at some stage.
Actually, RvP is a driving force… he can pick a team up, shame he is always crocked.
May 22, 2008 at 20:23
kenny…
http://www.megaupload.com/?d=KD1JWPI3
May 22, 2008 at 20:24
is it our training methods that take the toll on our players?
May 22, 2008 at 20:25
muchos grasias choy
May 22, 2008 at 20:26
I tell you what it could be… playing our players so intensely from a young age.
That apparently is the reason Theo is being so slowly introduced… to allow him to develop naturally.
Michael Owen was a victim of being overplayed young… Messi is going that way, he is always crocked.
May 22, 2008 at 20:28
Nasri wasn’t on the silly season list!
What a miss!
Cheers Bruno!
May 22, 2008 at 20:36
Arsenal have a business plan, and if we want Wenger as manager, part of that is giving him some rope and letting him do it his way, we’d all do it differently our way. We’ve got enough money to win us trophies. Chelsea and Manyoo are the broke ones that are totally living off borrowed money. I don’t want to support a club in perpetual debt and once we’re done with the debt we have, only teams funded by the likes of Gazprom or the KGB will be able to compete. Does anyone want us to be some fat rich tosser’s slave club? We’re a proper footballing club, and thats how Wenger intends to keep it, living off our own bacon. I don’t ever want us to be like that perverted charity bowl
with fans that wear 9 carat jewelery, smoke Mayfair and think Abramovich is a “top geezer”.
Besides, I agree with Wenger, we only need about 3 new players, we have a great home record, the boys need to learn to be a bit tougher on their travels with visitors treating you as such, if we can repeat this years form (not the awful draw streak), get an extra home and away win we’d be on 89 points. Most years that is enough to win. Wenger thinks wer’e good enough to get 90 -92 and I agree with him, 2 more home wins and an away win plus maintain our standards. Are we saying it can’t be done and that we need plastic surgery to achieve that?
He already knows what he wants to buy, it’s just us lot that are in the dark. He’s got a job to do and I’m sure by August 31st it’ll all be sorted out. You can’t grow a mighty oak in a few days.
May 22, 2008 at 20:36
What always makes me laugh is when Wenger takes the team to Austria every summer and refuses to promote in America etc because he thinks the team will be fatigued late in the season. And yet we conk out like old bangers every spring while Untied and Chelsea- after US tour- start moving through the gears! Another of those methods that make zero difference to anything.
Also his refusal to train on the pitch a night before the euro game. What’s the harm? SSN would have been disappointed by that stance if we were playing last night and refused to train at the Luzhniki on Tuesday so they could film us.
Such a killjoy in so many ways Wenger and yet the AKB’s lap it all up as some sort of wink wink Arsene knows bollox.
May 22, 2008 at 20:52
Hi Pedro/Geoff and Le-Grovers,
Aint been about lately, grafting.
Got to say Pedro that I totally agree about a “thug” in the middle!
One right hard dirty bastard to protect Cesc and who kicks the shit out of anyone and everything in sight!
We’ve had it done to us plenty, kets get some git in the middle to give it some back!
Remember the days of PV4, Keown, Lauren, Parlour, Adams, Petit?
They wouldn’t take any shit.
May 22, 2008 at 20:57
pedro what about fabregas then!!!!
May 22, 2008 at 21:41
Well come tomorrow Wenger has one week left to keep his word on new signings.
I have a feeling we have signed this Clement Chantome but that Wenger knows announcing him will bring more concern than optimism so he is holding out until he gets a half decent player so he can unveil them at the same time to take the pressure off. After that meeting he had with the shareholders he knows the fans are getting frustrated.
May 22, 2008 at 22:02
I’ve just had a rumour posted on my site that Arsenal have agreed a deal with Real Madrid for Hleb.
Apparently the geezer has a source who told him about big Sol joining a few years ago.
He reckons Arsenal are giving Hleb+£6 million for Robinho.
What do you reckon on that?
May 22, 2008 at 22:06
Evening all!
I’d go along with your theory there GMR… Chatome? Is he the defensive midfielder?
Wrighty, that is the only way the Arsenal fans would accept a deal!
I just struggle to see why Madrid would part with Robinho? He scores goals and makes them… where as Hleb does neither?
Would you be happy with that deal? I’d bite Mijatovic’s arm off for that deal!
May 22, 2008 at 22:12
wrighty.. we have that rumour going on for a couple of days on this blog… wish lists actually
May 22, 2008 at 22:13
Hlebs shown his true colours as soon as he was offered more ice-cream at Inter.
On one hand I want Hleb to go for as much money as possible, but then he wins.
On the other I’d like him to rot in the reserves ’till his contract ends.
But, if Robinho was on offer!!! Get that ice-cream loving devious little git out the Emirates and get the deal on!
May 22, 2008 at 22:14
Sorry Choy,
I’ve been really busy lately and havent writting or blogging at all!
I’m a bit behind the times mate.
May 22, 2008 at 22:16
no problemo wrighty…
we’re all here for the cause….
but he’ll be on a massive payroll.. 100k plus? surely…
nothing like an exciting end to a not so exciting day!!
May 22, 2008 at 22:21
I just posted something about that on Wrighty’s site!
Robinho isn’t being offered Galactico wages at Madrid… so why would Hleb? What are they seeing that we are not?
He makes our midfield tick… but give me a goal scoring winger who powers in with 10 assists over Hleb any day of the week!
May 22, 2008 at 22:24
pedro apparently robinho isn’t getting enough play time in madrid..
but at best these are just speculations to get him a better deal at madrid…
he would be great at arsenal though.. those crazy stepovers!!!!
the pace.. the trickery.. and he’ll get plenty of play time at arsenal!
May 22, 2008 at 22:26
Pedro,
Perhaps Hleb will be offered £70k plus all the mint choc chip ice-cream he can eat.
That “tops” Inter’s offer.
“Tops” get it?…….
I give up……Taxi…….
May 22, 2008 at 22:34
He has an awesome shot on him as well! I’ve only seen him a few times Choy… would he fit in?
He is small… do we fear another Reyes? Still, at least he is a proper winger!
Wrighty… Hleb doesn’t do enough to justify wages like that. 7 assists and 4 goals! Gilberto did better than that last year!
To be honest… I couldn’t give a flake what he does…
Oh my, save me a seat in that taxi…
May 22, 2008 at 22:37
he will definitely fit in!
he’s not your typical winger pedro.. but he sure is effective.. and he’ll have denilson here to talk to.. so i’m sure he won’t feel lonely and all that!!
and he’s just 24 so his best years are ahead of him..!!!
oh if only wishes could come true…
May 22, 2008 at 22:39
Seat saved mate……
oh no another…….”Crumbs” we’re sad…..
May 22, 2008 at 22:42
Good to hear Choy… its strange that he is struggling for playing time? He has always looked so talented!
Anyway… I’m getting a taxi to bed now.
Happy blogging!
Over to the night team!
May 22, 2008 at 22:45
Laters Pedro,
Please cone Arsenal sign Robinho…….
Taxi for Wrighty7…….
May 22, 2008 at 22:48
nite pedro!.. wrighty you too
May 22, 2008 at 22:55
Choy, thats interesting about him struggling for playing time.
Why would he want to go to Chelsea when he dosen’t know who they are signing next Sidwell, SWP etc perhaps he has learned the lesson and dosn’t want to sit on the bench no more..
May 22, 2008 at 23:11
Nite Choy
May 22, 2008 at 23:22
I think Hleb is better than Robinho in the midfield minefield in terms of workrate, awareness, mobility, and intelligence, and passing. That’s why Robinho doesn’t get playing time.
He is more proficient in front of goal and has more confidence.
I would prefer Hleb to be honest.
May 23, 2008 at 00:00
At least StAlbans shouldn’t be a problem.http://www.iht.com/articles/2004/11/11/soccer_ed3__8.php
May 23, 2008 at 04:19
grimandi said this a while ago
now scouting for his former club – has hinted a deal is in the pipeline.
“I have been travelling a lot these days,” Grimandi said. “Nearly to every country! You know, there are a lot of great players in Ligue 1(surprise, surprise ). We may propose a contract to a midfielder who plays there.”
One possible target is Ivory Coast star Didier Zokora who, considered by many as the best midfielder in France, is rated in the £10million bracket.
————————————————————————–
is that too expensive ? i think that was last years news but surely if your after some quality you’d continue the quest to get established players ! ,and traveling nearly to every country >??WTF ??/ then all you get is French players spewed up as options ! !?
Arsenal should be paying a lot for scouting ! If indeed arsene is looking for talented
wonder kids , then this should be the prime basis for spending cash !
ON SCOUTING !
it makes you wonder with choices like Song- senderos-eboue, and all the other EPL failures we produced for so long , is arsene really that good at talent spotting?
not sure where the the ronaldos – berbatovs and drogbas are ??
because we didnt make a move for them did we ???
i supposes there not french !
thats why im pissed off with all these french connections , it seems we aren’t capable to think out of the box ! , we arent even trying too hard to get quality ..
IF IN DOUBT GO BUY BRAZILIAN ! there all good right ? …
Even if your doing the purchasing the arsene way , surely you must get a good scout network around you to ensure you are picking the best from the current crop ???
more senderos’s- eboue’s – song’s- hoytes etc …
im sure ben arfa will be official after this weekend , his game commitments are over
after this weekend .. but still , it will be pretty disappointing 2 weeks after the boss has came out and made a statement like we will be impressed with his signings !.
fuck so far im waiting for fireworks and only have some fat kid shooting matches into the air !
Thats Arsenal value for money !
May 23, 2008 at 04:41
but really even if we get benarfa and nasri , aren’t we just replacing the 2 players who are leaving ? technically ???
we wanted 2 or 3 signings , before flamini and hleb left .. NOT INCLUDING !!!
(this is what i said last month ! ) dont include new signings in the leaving party
figures ! So what your stupid enough to let someone leave on a free arsene , not our fault !
If arsene even signs nasri and arfa .. These aren’t the extra players we are talking about .these are just filling in the gaps left behind by quality players GONE..
I know the way AFC will spin this ! And its not looking promising !we promised you 2 or 3 signings and youve got them ! … (in effect weakening the team further)
there is a certain questionable doubt that these players might not even fill the gaps !
sure good players in france but how many players can play in the EPL as well ??
If some people aren’t questioning arsene , they should start doing it now !
Also if we can salvage anything from the hleb debarkle , he must sign a new contract !
or leave ! keeping him 1 more season is destined for a flamini repeat !
this year id be happy for all contracts to be re-newed and all 1st teamer’s given long lengthy contracts and a clear impression from le boss no one is leaving in 09 ….
apart from maybe arsene himself
but arsene’s promised signings as far as i can see are just replacing current team members lost , nothing more ! In fact currently we havent even replaced flamini
and hleb .. we are just further in more shite than before ..
soon out of desperation for new signings we will all forget arsene promised 2-3 new class signings to add to the current team ,before flamini and hleb left .
May 23, 2008 at 07:54
Ethangunner, yourself & I are thinking along the same lines, the only thing I would say is that our squad size last season wasn’t really the problem, unfortunately it was the quality which caused us to lose it.
We should have a better keeper than Almunia (he shouldn’t be more than a number 2) & the players that come in when injuries or suspensions occur clearly aren’t either good enough or ready for the first team.
It’s true that youngsters need time to learn but apart from the very, very best ones they shouldn’t be learning their trade so to speak at Arsenal. Arsene should decide on the best ones & then loan them out for 2 seasons at the same club so they come back ready, the others should be sold.
May 23, 2008 at 07:56
Posting at about 0930 today…!
May 23, 2008 at 09:12
i agree GMR, the first team is good, but some of the guys on the bench need more time on the pitch, and they just aren’t getting it sufficiently in the reserves. either they aren’t challenged there, or there is too much of a challenge that they can’t handle it.
traore, hoyte, denilson… these are the kinda guys who only just fit the mould, but they would benefit from from a year or so at another club. arsene should look to loan more players out, instead of just the teenaged, talented ones (vela, merida, etc).
also, a 1st keeper would be awesome! arsene should look at gregory coupet imo, although he is older, and is about to get a bit more expensive, keepers do have a bit more time in them than a midfielder, or a winger… the other guy i would look at is mickåel landreau. the PSG keeper is still youngish (at 29), but is already the 2nd in the french international squad. 6 1/2 foot tall, quite athletic, looks pretty neat imo, only he’s half-way through a 4 year contract… =/
idk… we need someone in between the posts though, and he needs to be better than almunia.
May 23, 2008 at 09:17
HLEB’S AGENT SAYS THIS ON REAL MADRID’S INTEREST………..
This is fucking sweet. Honestly. Inter, Barcelona and Real Madrid all want to sign Alexander. It’s great. Do you have any idea what this will do for my profile? I’ll have a stable full of Eastern European players now all convinced I can get them a move to a big club and I’ll take my percentage of their wages and buy a big house and a big car and I might even have a harem. I’ve always wanted a harem and girls to put their finger up my bum.
May 23, 2008 at 09:35
NEW POST!
May 23, 2008 at 09:36
what?!?! starnge person, ArsenalKenya
May 23, 2008 at 09:37
ArsenalKenya, that wasn’t Hleb’s agent it was Arseblogger taking the piss!!